NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. — A developer is looking to bring a three-story hotel and new shopping center to the site of the old Kmart in Neptune Beach.
Action News Jax obtained the renderings of the proposed buildings from the city and spoke with locals about the plans.
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The developer, TBR Neptune, is hoping to fill the gap of what was once a Kmart on Atlantic Boulevard with a new hotel and shopping center dubbed Town Center West.
The proposed development would have a 133,000-square-foot hotel with 150 rooms, and roughly 90,000 square feet for a shopping center and parking spaces.
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Kmart shut down in July 2016 and the store has been vacant ever since.
“It’s more of blighted area. It doesn’t look good,” Shawn Welk said. “It doesn’t reflect our community and where we’re at today with the growth of our community.”
Welk has lived at the Beaches his entire life and owns the Bavarian Rennsport on Mayport Road. He fully supports the development of the Town Center West.
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“They’re replicating what they’ve already done on the east side of Third Street, which is gonna make this whole community look so tied together and look so much better. Plus, people are concerned about the parking. They’re gonna have adequate parking. They’re figuring all that in,” Welk said.
A public meeting will be held to discuss Town Center West on October 21st at 6 p.m. in Neptune Beach.
Action News Jax reached out to the mayor of Neptune Beach and the developer for an interview, but neither were available to speak with us today.
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